In the technology sector, MSPs (managed services providers) seem immune to the recession, according to the attendees at the MSP Alliance conference in Chicago. In fact, these firms are able to grow BECAUSE of the poor economy. One factor credited to this grow — as headcount goes down, outsourcing goes up. Could this work for your business as well?
Are MSPs Immune to the Economic Slowdown? [via NetworkWorld].
If you, like plenty of others, have read so much about our dire financial straits that your head is spinning, you might just want to read today’s article on the Kinggame blog. The author claims that our current unemployment rate is around 40% LOWER than Europe’s was in the financial boom times of the 1990s. That around 90% of the U.S. made the same amount of money this month as they did last month. Even September’s 1.2% drop in retail sales should be looked at in context.
Economic Meltdown [via Kinggame]
It’s hard to be efficient in marketing without the help of a CRM (customer relationship management application) to keep your interactions with prospects and customers organized. And efficiency is key in a bad economy. But which one should you use?
When it comes to CRMs, we’ve tried everything from a home-grown application to ACT, Salesforce, Sugar, Zoho, Sage and I don’t even remember what else. We finally landed on Highrise CRM from 37 Signals. » Continue reading “Organize Your Contacts AND Save Money with Highrise CRM”
“History has shown that it is the companies who continue with aggressive, yet relevant, marketing during the slow times that are first to emerge when the economic tide turns.” So writes Stuart Ayling in a recent article. He points out a number of good ways that marketers can cut costs and save money in a bad economy and even improve your competitive position.
Smarter Marketing in a Slow Economy [via WebProNews]
Few - if any - market niches are left untouched by this lousy economy, so what’s a marketer to do? Identify who in your market is being affected and figure out creative ways to help them solve their problems while bringing attention to your products or services. In other words, think!
Marketing in a Bad Economy [via Friday Traffic Report].
It’s always easier to sell more products or services to your existing customer base, and Karen Scharf reminds us of this in her recent article on John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing blog. Among other things, Karen suggests increasing your communication with these clients, adding new products & services, repackaging existing offerings, and creating alliances with complementary businesses. All good advice for getting new customers too.
How to Market in a Bad Economy [via Duct Tape Marketing].
The business owner’s usual reaction to an economic meltdown is to start slashing expenses, and marketing is often among the hardest hit. But before you chop valuable marketing programs, let’s make sure your program isn’t leaking dollars or losing prospects (tomorrow’s dollars).
Find the leaks and you just might save plenty of money to keep your marketing going.
In a poor economy, it’s especially important to maintain your visibility and continue the lead acquisition and development programs. These are what ensure that you hold onto your market share (if you’re a defensive thinker) or even gain market share (if you’re more of an offensive thinker).
Here are the top three places to look. » Continue reading “Top 3 Places to Look for Leaks in Your Marketing”
On Thursday October 23, BtoB Online is hosting a complementary 60 minute webinar about running an effective B2B email marketing campaign in a bad economy. Their webinars are usually pretty informative.
Shortly after I published a post earlier this morning about big search advertisers cutting back their spending, we ran across reference to a recent report from JupiterResearch finding that 92% of large search marketers plan to increase their search budgets by an average of 22%.
What does this tell us?
Report: Search Growth Surges [via Adweek]
Pay-per-click advertising spending has continued to grow; but - according to a couple of reports released this week - big advertisers are buying fewer generic search terms and are focusing on brand terms, which are generally less expensive.
Does this create an opportunity for smaller advertisers? Will we see the price of targeted “generic” terms drop - or at least level off? Something to watch.
Search Weathers Economic Storm, but Umbrellas Are at the Ready [via Online Media Daily]
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